Multiversed
by xsphinxslady
Summary: A/U: Rogue left the Manor six-months after the battle of Alcatraz and Logan took off. Now she's close to death and only one thing can save her: Logan's healing factor. But will she be able to reach him in time? And who are these people he's working with now? Avengers/X-Men Crossover Rogue/Tony Stark pairing.
1. Prologue

**Multiversed**

_Author's Note: Yes, yes, yes. I know. I'm a horrible person for starting another story with others still ongoing but I couldn't help myself. Plus I'm hoping if I can get these random Rogue plot bunnies out of my head then I'll be able to refocus on Skydancer. Bad, Sphinxy, bad!_

_Now that that's been covered… This is an A/U crossover from within the Marvel multiverse hence the title. Herein will be featured Rogue (similar to the one from Skydancer) and Logan with the possibility of Remy from the X-Men movie verse, and the Avengers. Because I think Rogue and Tony Stark would be an awesome pairing. And since this is my story what I say goes._

_You have been warned! Also M-Rating for later Lemons (this is Tony we're talking about) and gratuitous violence and bad language (ummm yeah, Wolverine in the house)._

_Disclaimer:__ Everything belongs to Marvel until I decide to throw in an original character…or eight._

_And now on with my plot bunny craziness!_

x*x*x*x*x*x*x

**Prologue**

Coming awake with scratchy eyes and a burning throat Rogue stares listlessly around the decrepit motel room. A rundown room in yet another rundown burg. Just another place to crash out for a couple hours before hitting the road again to the next fight or job.

She's alone today which is a switch.

For the past year she's had one shadow or another following her, watching her every step, making sure she doesn't collapse in a heap somewhere and just being done.

Being done sounds nice, excellent in fact.

There's just one fucking problem.

Being done is too damned close to quitting and even without have Wolvie running around in her head quitting just isn't something Anna Marie "Rogue" D'Ancanto can manage.

She never gave up when she got booted from her parent's house after David's coma. She never gave up making her vagabond way from Mississippi to Laughlin City, Canada. She didn't give up until Logan gave her a ride. And she sure as shit never gave up all those times Magneto or some other asshole tried to kill her or use her either to take over the world or in the name of some nebulous "greater good."

Rogue's not a damned quitter.

But her body is quickly becoming one.

In the years since leaving the Manor after she sucked the Phoenix and Jean along with that goddess-wannabe-bitch into herself on Alcatraz Island she's taken one job after another. Money followed by fights followed by more running. That's her life now an endless cycle of kill or be killed with cold hard cash the only thing keeping her warm at night.

She went on that way for five years after Logan bailed out from the Manor. She gave him six-months to the day and then she made her own escape. After all, it's one thing for people to have the _idea_ she could kill with a touch and a very different thing for them to see it up close and personal being used on a supposedly un-killable mutant. Yeah…making friends after that wasn't gonna happen at the Manor.

The X-Men don't kill after all.

Rogue however _does_ and having copies of several homicidal idiots, Wolvie included, squatting in her brain hasn't helped that inclination one little bit.

It was only a matter of time before they either turned on her or turned her over to the government for the "Cure" whether she liked it or not.

Once she figured that out following Logan's example and her own basic inclinations for being in the wind seemed like the best move she could make.

Five years of running around the fight circuit with the occasional "job" thrown in – usually some kinda black bag work that her inner-Logan had no problem helping her out with.

Then last year the shit really hit the fan.

She absorbed three mutants she never, _ever_, should've come in contact with.

One is fairly harmless although Gambit decided to stalk her for six-months until he figured out that yes, untouchable really fucking meant _untouchable_. Plus his thieving skills come in handy and his power is pretty damn awesome.

Daken was another matter _entirely_ even if he wasn't as much of a pain in the ass as Remy. Talk about Daddy issues, jeezus. But his healing factor helped cancel out some of the damage the last mutant did.

Viper.

Now that's one fucked up bitch.

Daken's mutation helped keep her Viper-inherited cancer in check for a while then they started bonding over their Logan-abandonment issues. He left last night because they got into a fight over her next step. He hates that he can't help her any more than he already has. Shit. He's kept her alive for the last six-months but his healing factor just isn't strong enough to undo all the damage Viper's poison managed before Rogue absorbed him.

Until she found Daken she was sure she was finally going to die. She was done and she accepted it. Then when his mutation stopped curing her she was sure of it. And she was ok with that. Life had never been a bushel of roses for her anyway and there was nothing anyone could do to help her anymore.

Then Remy showed up last night.

Once he and Daken sorted out their alpha-male dominance issues he told her what he'd found on a job last week. Or rather _who_ he found. Which was promptly followed by her and Remy making plans and Daken taking off in a huff. For a grown-ass man he's awfully moody but then so is his dad.

Rising she braces herself with one hand on the edge of the bed before climbing slowly to her feet. Catching her breath from the exertion that one little movement cost her she shakes her head. There's only about a one-in-a-million that Remy's info is still current and a less than that chance that she'll actually be able to pull this off.

But then who cares?

She's as good as dead anyway.


	2. Chapter 1

**Multiversed**

_A/N: Welcome to my plot bunny/completely self-indulgent crossover of the X-Men with the Avengers, heavier on the Avengers than the X-Men, set approximately after the first Avenger's movie but without any Pepper/Tony-ness. Pairing is Rogue/Tony Stark because I can!_

_Disclaimer:_ Not my characters or multiverse unfortunately…but I like to play in this sandbox to an unholy degree.

**One**

_Avenger's Headquarters, Stark Tower, NYC_

Tony Stark cracked one bleary eye open as JARVIS initiated the automatic controls on the blackout blinds in his personal rooms. Located on the top three floors of Stark Tower, he doesn't share his private rooms and labs with _anyone_ let alone the fellow members of the quasi-government sanctioned group of superheroes he joined out of some sense of misplaced duty to…well…the world. While most geniuses happily bank the profits of their skills and collect Nobel-prizes he decided to use his to actually save the damn world instead of talking about saving it.

Which according to his bestfriend/PA Pepper Potts is just one more way for him to one-up the assholes at MIT.

Tomato/_to-mato _as far as Tony's concerned.

Today's hangover is courtesy of a drinking contest between him, the newly returned Thor, and the newest member of their band of misfits, Wolverine. A mutant and general dick who somehow manages to out-snarl Fury any given day of the week. Tony's not sure but he's thinking latent daddy-issues of some kind. Of course that goes for most of the team.

Himself, Thor, Banner, now Wolverine, all definite daddy-issues.

"Jarvis," he groaned out as he rubs one hand across his face. "Note to me: never enter another drinking contest against Wolvie. Ever. Clear?"

"Yes, sir." The mechanical butler/AI spoke from the speakers hidden in every room. "A wise decision, I must say, sir."

"Yeah," he grunted sitting up. "Healing factor mutation. I didn't realize _at the time_ that that would mean a hyperfunctioning liver. Although maybe I could figure out a practical application, some kind of genetic therapy for alcoholics…" He muttered to himself as he moved into the shower, ignoring the disapproving silence from his robotic nanny.

After showering and dressing in casual wear – nothing but a day of tinkering downstairs and fielding conference calls for his company in sight – Tony made his way into the kitchen, enjoying the smell of fresh brewed coffee that heralds his lovely but prickly assistant.

"Good morning, Pepper." He greets her semi-cheerfully as the shower has taken the edge off of the little tin soldiers pounding away at his brain.

"Morning," she said in turn, handing him a perfectly made cup of his favorite life-giving beverage. "Nothing heavy on the slate today." She said briskly, handing him his tablet. "I need some signatures to approve company projects, expenditures, etc. Then you're free until noon when you have a conference call with our L.A. office that should last around an hour. After that you're free and clear for the rest of the day."

Quickly scanning the e-files on the tablet he signs one after another as she updates him then hands it back as she finishes her morning update spiel.

"Excellent." He said with a rakish grin. "What about the other side of things?"

Phil strides into the room greeting Pepper. "Nothing on our end." Agent Coulson said, nodding as Pepper leaves for the offices several floors below them. "Hawkeye and Black Widow are still out on assignment, other than that you're all clear."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the alarms begin blaring out an intruder-alert on the Avenger's level.

Giving Phil a pissed look Tony moved over to the wall which slid back to reveal his Iron Man suit.

"You had to say it, didn't you Coulson." He grumped at the Agent as they sped downstairs to the site of the breach according to JARVIS. "You had to give an all-clear. Jinxing bastard."

*x*x*x*x*x*

As one the Avengers poured into the main conference room in their headquarters just below Tony's private labs. Thor, Wolverine, and Captain America came rushing from the gym while Iron Man and Agent Coulson pounded in from the stairwell. Dr. Banner, not yet Hulked out, entered with much less fan-fare from his own lab on that level.

The men all came to a staggering halt at what was waiting for them in the center of the room.

Seated on top of the large oval conference table was the figure of a small woman with her legs kicked out in front of her and crossed at the ankles and her arms propping herself up as she watched them all storm into the room out of wary chocolate-brown eyes. She was wearing a worn leather uniform of some kind with its insignia ripped off and ground down into a rough, comfortable gray-black instead of shiny boot-black that covered her from neck to wrist to ankle where her well-fitted boots took over. The uniform was obviously old, not only from the amount of wear but also from the fit: the barely could contain her across her chest and hips. Perhaps the most startling of all and the feature that had one of the Avengers moving cautiously towards the table wasn't her clothes, her figure, or her flat-out gorgeously seductive looks: it was her hair.

Deep chestnut brown except for two identical white stripes pouring down from her widow's peak and framing her face.

Retracting his claws with a _snickt _Wolverine paced over to the table, his head cocked to one side.

"Rogue?" He asked incredulously. "What the fuck are you doin' here, kid?"

Bitter laughter poured out from between her dusty-rose lips as she moved into a crouch, ignoring their rapt audience.

"Really, Logan?" Her voice was pure honey and sin, her sweet Southern accent pouring over Tony's skin like a caress. "After all this time _that's _what ya got? No, hi, how're ya doin'? No, how've ya been since I abandoned you? Not even a hey, how's tricks? Just, 'what the fuck are ya doin' here'? Nice, Logan." She frowned snickering as she adjusted her weight, she's only going to get one shot at this. "Real nice."

Coming to a stop before the table he just grunts at her words as he studied her. Something was off, something besides the changes and the bitterness he would expect from her. Something just…off. Maybe it was her skin, with its yellow-green tinge barely noticeable to his superior eyesight. Or how she seemed to favor one leg, like there's an ache that won't go away. Her hair seemed more brittle than he remembered and her eyes had the slightest glaze…

He shook his head. And maybe he's just makin' shit up to make himself feel better about her rightful anger towards him.

Shooting a look at their audience, all of whom refused to take a hint and go the fuck away, Logan moved closer, stopping at the edge of the table facing her.

"Ok, kid." He said with a shrug. "How's tricks?"

Giving him a wicked grin she pounced, wrapping her long-for-her-height legs around his waist and clenching her arms around his barrel chest as she looks right into his startled gaze.

"Great, got a couple new ones for ya." With that she presses her lips to the shoulder bared by his wife beater tank top and bit down, holding on despite the rest of the Avengers rushing to pry her off. She held on until he passed out, collapsing onto the ground, then she held on a little longer. Until she felt the rabid strength and senses kick in long after his healing factor took her over and a new-and-more-damaged version of Logan and Wolverine took up residence in her mind. She held on until he healed her and saved her life.

After all, as many times as she's saved his ass and his sanity before he went on permanent AWOL she figured he owned her cute Southern ass. As one of his newest teammates moved over with a syringe she sighed to herself.

She just hopes he wakes up soon.

The Rogue doesn't do well in a cell.

*x*x*x*x*x*

Logan came awake to a sight that nightmares are made of: Director Nick Fury lurking over his bedside, staring at him.

"Back the fuck off, bub." He growled, sitting up. Fuck. He thought as the events leading to his unconsciousness all came rushing back. He hasn't felt that way in a long ass time. Since Liberty Island, actually.

"Ah, Wolverine." Fury gave a stiff nod. "You are aware of how you got here, correct?"

"Yeah," he grunted, swinging his legs over the side of the med bay cot. "The Rogue laid my ass out."

"Ah, yes." Satisfaction gleamed in the Director's eye. "We thought you might be familiar with the young lady we currently have in holding. As least that's what we assumed from your little dialogue before she put you down so quickly. You wouldn't happen to know just _how _she managed that little trick now would you?"

Logan just laughed mirthlessly as he got to his feet. At least this time he wasn't here long enough to wear a stupid-ass hospital gown.

"How long was I out?"

"Approximately six hours and," the Director looked at his watch. "…thirty-seven minutes. Quite impressive from one little bite…wouldn't you say?"

Logan grunts. Not nearly as bad as the last time when she laid him out for a week. Her mutation must be getting better or the him inside of her has gotten stronger. Ignoring the Director who proceeded to follow him regardless, Logan made his way from the med bay to the holding cells, picking up stray members of his team and a few curious agents along the way. Coming to a stop before the part of the building containing the holding cells he spun to face his new entourage.

Every-fuckin'-body wants to know how to drop the Wolverine.

"Look," he said at last scrubbing one hand through his bearded jaw. "She's not gonna talk to me with all-a you hangin' around. Go find yerselves a nice spot on the other side-a the pretty mirror so I can talk to 'er."

"Fine." Fury said with a nod. "Stark and Banner are already in there trying to get her to talk to them about how she knocked you out."

Of course the geniuses are. Logan rolls his eyes. Probably trying to figure out what loophole around his mutation they missed in their research or some bullshit.

"I'll send 'em out." He said. "I know 'er. She's not gonna wanna talk to me in the mood she's in right now, especially after bein' locked in a cell, let alone the science-squad. But I already know how she dropped me. What _you_ need to know is how she got in here. And that's what I'll get from 'er…in exchange for her walkin' papers."

"What?!" Agent Coulson burst out. "You can't expect a criminal like…"

"Like what?" Logan interrupted with a growl. "Only crime I see is knockin' my ass out when none-a ya geeks and freaks could figure out how."

"She broke into a secured facility." Fury stated calmly.

"That's owned by a private party." Tony said smoothly joining the fray as he investigated the argument JARVIS alerted him to. "So unless myself or the Wolverine, here, press charges there's been no crime. And I think that's a fair deal to make to find out where our security weaknesses are…don't you?" He asked the Director with a sarcastically arched brow, once more attired in a comfortable pair of designer jeans and a Black Sabbath t-shirt.

Grumbling the Director agreed, with a caveat:

"She tells us everything. What the weaknesses are, how she exploited them, what she came here for. Everything. Otherwise she can make herself comfortable in that cell because she'll be there a long, long time."

Exchanging a look, Logan and Stark said in stereo:

"Agreed."


	3. Chapter 2

**Multiversed**

_Disclaimer:_ _X-Men and the Avengers belong to Marvel/Fox._

**Two**

_Holding Cells, Avenger Headquarters, Stark Tower, NYC_

Before Stark could turn and follow Fury over to the observation room, Wolverine grabbed his arm holding him back a moment until Fury was safely out of hearing range.

"Why're you helping her, Tin-Man?" He growled. Logan hasn't gotten to know the other Avengers very well yet but even he knows that Tony Stark aka Iron-Man doesn't do shit out of the goodness of his heart.

Peeling the Wolverine off of his arm Tony shoots the Feral a sarcastic look before sobering and giving him a rare straight answer.

"Because she was sick, Wolvie." He said with a level look. "I don't know how you cured her or how she dropped you but she was sick and now she's not. So I figure she had a damned good reason to track you down and break in. I'm not in the business of punishing sick women."

Shrugging him off he tapped one finger against the ear-piece he wears at all times when he's not suited up. Waiting a moment he watched Wolverine enter the holding cell with the Rogue before speaking.

"JARVIS."

"Yes, sir."

"I want all files you can find on a woman known as the Rogue or Rogue. Hack Xavier's, Logan used to be an X-Man back in the day, see if they know anything about her."

"You suspect she's a mutant, sir?"

"Yes," Tony answered moving towards the observation room. "And I want to know which side she plays for before I go to bat for her again."

"Very well, sir."

Disconnecting the link with another tap, Tony walks into the full observation room and pushes his way to the front between Dr. Bruce Banner – the Hulk, and Thor. Everyone wants to know how one little woman dropped the great Wolverine, it seems.

*x*x*x*x*x*

Logan took a deep breath before walking into the holding cell. He'd rather be anywhere but here. He likes to think of himself as a tough man, a survivor. Inside that cell is living proof that he can also be a coward and a runner, completely selfish and uncaring about the damage he leaves in his wake when he leaves – and he always leaves.

There's not much he's ashamed of in his unnatural life, not much of the last twenty-odd years that he can remember that he really regrets.

Marie's at the top of the list right under Mariko.

Seeing her so angry and bitter right before she knocked him out with that layer of sickness under the surface haunts him.

He has a feeling that a good chunk of his dirty laundry is about to get aired in front of his new boss and the rest of his team. He can't even say he doesn't deserve it.

Squaring his shoulders he enters a code into the security pad on the wall and walks into the holding cell. They'd given her one of the bigger ones with a full-twin bed bolted into the wall and its own bathroom hidden behind a shield. There's also an invisible security shield that runs the length of the room before turning a ninety-degree corner two feet from the door, boxing her into a space that she can't get out of while leaving room for others to come into the room and talk to her or observe her for whatever reason as the chairs lined up a set distance from the barrier attest to.

Apparently scared shitless of one little mutant – whether they've figure out what she is or not – they also left a pair of electronic cuffs on her that are capable of delivering a jolt to her system strong enough to knock her out if needed.

Logan moved over to the center most chair and eases down into it, studying his old protégé all over again. Her skin looked healthier, her hair more shiny and less brittle. Her eyes were more alert and less glazed and she doesn't have that air of fragility about her anymore. If it wasn't for the aura of maturity and world-weariness that surrounds her, he would think her the exact same girl he left behind – minus the cuffs of course.

"Finally up, huh?" Rogue drawled as she sat up from her position laying idly on the bed. Turning around in a smooth movement with none of the weakness that's plagued her for months, she dangles her legs over the edge of the bed with a knowing look at the mirrored glass. She knows they have an audience. "Maybe Ah don' pack the punch Ah used to."

With a smirk Logan lights up a cigar and clamps it between his teeth as he leans back against the chair in an easy sprawl.

"I doubt that, kid." He arches a brow. "What're you doin' here?

"Came to see an old friend." She gave him an answering smirk. "That is what you are if I remember right. That is what you told me that one time…remember?"

_I'm not your father, kid. I'm your friend._

The ghost of those fateful words hang there in the air between them as tangible to the two of them as the "invisible" protective barrier that kept them on different sides of the room.

*x*x*x*x*x*

"Oh I like her." Tony said laughing on the other side of the mirror. "Smartass and not afraid of the big-bad Wolverine. Can we keep her?"

At the wave of hissed "be quiets" that answered his question he just settled into his spot and leaned one hand against the ledge of the mirror. Anyone who's not afraid of the Wolverine is worth knowing.

*x*x*x*x*x*

"Yeah, kid." Logan said after a long moment. "I'm still your friend."

"So, friend." She bounces to her feet and starts pacing her side of the barrier. "You gonna spring me? Not like I really broke any laws or anything…technically." Unless him and Stark pressed charges but she knows Logan wouldn't do that to her even after all this time and Stark doesn't seem like the type.

Logan snorts.

"You might not be under arrest, kid. But you're still in a shit-load of trouble. People are gonna wanta know how you got in here so easily. You made 'em look like chumps and amateurs, kid. And you know those types hate that."

"Well…they kinda are. Amateurs anyway. The security here has holes I could steal a missile through."

"That what you're doin' these days?" Logan asked with idle casualness. "Figured you'd still be with the geeks."

"Naw." She gave him a bitter smile. "After you took off they were all too scared-a me for me to stay much longer. Took me about six-months to give up on you comin' back then I split. Followed the circuit mostly." She shot him a meaning-filled look. "After all…I learned from the best."

*x*x*x*x*x*

Fury and Coulson were still bitching about the amateurs crack when the two on the other side of the mirror moved on to something much more interesting to Tony and the Avengers.

"They're talking in a code but not." Bruce pointed out. "They are both being very careful to reference events without giving any sort of context for us to go digging with."

Fury tuned back in at Dr. Banner's comment in time to hear her mention a circuit.

"That's the cage fighting circuit up in Canada." Fury said, thinking rapidly. "Wolverine has fought along that circuit off and on, going back as far as he remembers."

"She's a prize fighter?" Tony said looking at her with even more interest. "What a woman."

Thor just nods in agreement. Not many women fight in Asgaard but one of his oldest friends Sif is an unequaled fighter.

"Agent Coulson," Fury barked out. "We've got a starting point. Get on it. I want everything you can find on the Rogue on my desk by 0600 tomorrow."

*x*x*x*x*x*

"Jesus, kid." Logan scratches at his jaw. "I never figured you picked up that much from me." He worded carefully.

"Well, I did." She said shortly. "More than anyone else except _her. _And I did everything I could to forget what _she_ taught me as quickly as possible. I did my best to lock it away and forget about it."

"Jesus." Logan stared blankly at the end of his cigar. He tried all this time to not think about that. To think about Jean and Phoenix's possible influence on little Marie. Guess she's been doing the same.

"I wish." She laughed bitterly. "He would've been easier to deal with. Picked up jobs here and there, ran into some old friends and made some new ones. Some of them knew you. I probably know more about you than you do at this point."

"That wouldn't be hard to manage." He said with a grin and a shrug. He's passed letting the blanks in his memory drive him. "How'd all of that bring you to me?"

"Took a job a while back. One I never should've taken." She rubbed absently at her leg where Viper slashed at her. "Bitch named Viper tagged me. Tried everything I could think of but in the end…"

"You needed some help from me."

"Yup." She said with a nod. "Believe me I tried everything and everyone else first. You'd made it pretty damn clear you wanted to forget about everything that happened, including me. But I was out of options."

"Alright, kid. Fair enough." He said leaning forward and stabbing out his cigar. "But, look. They're not lettin' you outta here without knowing how you broke in. You agree to show them the blindspots in their security and you can walk outta here. You already covered why you came so you show 'em how you got in and you're square. That's the deal."

Rogue shrugged. It was a fair deal.

"Fine by me. These cuffs are startin' to itch."

*x*x*x*x*x*

As Logan walked into the observation room he noticed that everyone except Fury and the Avengers minus Black Widow and Hawkeye had left. Probably due to the fact that Stark and Fury are in the middle of a giant hissy fit.

"She's a dangerous creature that we know nothing about!" Fury bellowed an inch from Stark's face. "There's nothing to gain from keeping her! She doesn't belong here!"

Grabbing Fury with one hand Logan backs him off Stark as he gives his teammates a look.

"What the fuck is goin' on?"

"Tony thinks we should try and recruit her. The Director clearly disagrees." Bruce said calmly. All he needs is some popcorn to share with Thor and the two of them would be in heaven.

"Recruit Rogue?" Logan arched a brow at Tony. "This isn't because you wanna try and get in her pants is it?" Because that never ends well.

"Look at her she's gorgeous, of course I do." Tony said with a wave at the woman on the other side of the glass. "But also she's dangerous, smart, a fighter, a smartass, and clearly has skills that we have no idea of the scale of. She's perfect for the Avengers. Plus she gets along, after a fashion, with Wolvie. That alone has to be worth its weight in gold."

"She did break in here with little to no effort." Steve aka Captain America points out.

"I don't suppose you're going to be forthcoming about her skills and past, are you Wolverine?" Fury stares at Logan.

"Nope. Kid's secrets are her own."

"Fine then." Fury sighed. "Tonight she helps Stark and the Captain plug the holes in security. Once I have Coulson's report about Ms. Rogue on my desk in the morning we will revisit recruiting her. Until then," he pointed to Captain America, Tony, and Logan. "You three keep an eye on her. One of you at least on guard duty with her at all times that she is outside her cell. And she stays in that cell tonight."

"The cuffs?" Logan reminds him.

"Fine, fine." Fury waves at him in agreement. "Eyes on her at all times."


	4. Chapter 3

**Multiversed**

_A/N:__ A lot of backstory from the X-Men stories in the first part of this chapter so Tony can get up-to-speed on Rogue, some of which is told from Storm's perspective._

_Disclaimer:__ X-Men and the Avengers belong to people with a lot more money than me._

**Three**

Tony watched as the newly uncuffed Rogue followed Steve over to the gathered Avengers for a "proper introduction" – her words as she gave Logan a sarcastic look. Barely paying attention to the niceties he listened as JARVIS rattled off information from the files the AI hacked from Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.

_"Files pertaining to student 158907 codename "Rogue". There are four different sets of records, sir, under different levels of encryption and security firewalls. According to the records under the lowest level of protection, Rogue was a student at Xavier's for two years after being brought the school along with another mutant codename "The Wolverine." In that time she received her high school diploma and participated in various college-level programs specializing in art, creative writing, and languages. She lived in a solo dorm room for the first six-months before being transferred to a shared room for one year and then the last six-months in a solo room once more."_

He smiled and greeted the beauty as she moved over to him, the last on her little round of meet and greets. Going through the motions he agreed with the plan for her to stay with Steve for the time being as she showed him the physical issues with their security before meeting Tony in the control room to go over the technical weaknesses with him and JARVIS.

Nodding he walked over to the elevator, cueing JARVIS to continue with his report.

"What's the next level up got to say?"

_"The next level is a file compiled by the late Dr. Jean Gray and then added to by Dr. Hank McCoy regarding Rogue's medical history and the effects of her mutation on her physical wellbeing. Upon arriving at the school Dr. Gray did a full workup on the then sixteen-year-old. She showed mild injuries from a car-wreck caused by Sabertooth while the mutant was in the employ of the Brotherhood of Mutants. Dr. Gray noted that the worst injury was a contusion cause by a blow to the head during the wreck. Rogue also sustained injuries congruent with a wreck including deep diagonal bruising along the clavicle, sternum, and ribs from hanging by her seatbelt while unconscious._

_Dr. Gray noted that Rogue's mutation is one of absorption of energy and power through skin-to-skin contact. Which led to others referring to Rogue as having "poisonous skin". Dr. Gray was unsure as to the extent of the mutation as she had no physical markers of having a mutation. Also noted is that Rogue's mind is unreadable by telepaths which is considered either a by-product of her main mutation or a second mutation._

_An incident is noted that during one of the Wolverine's nightmare's the first night at the Manor, Rogue attempted to wake him resulting in his stabbing her right below her heart with his claws. Rogue then was seen to put one hand on his face and "stole" his healing factor, enabling her to heal and thereby saving her life. It is also noted that the injuries from the car wreck were also healed during this transfer._

_There are two other incidents of "transferring" or "stealing" powers by Rogue from other mutants in addition of dozens of other injuries and accidents during the two years Rogue was at the school._

_The first incident involved the Liberty Island Attack where one mutant forced his power into Rogue and almost killed her by forcing her to power his machine. She was again saved by the Wolverine transferring his healing factor to Rogue._

_The second incident involved the Alcatraz Island Incident. Dr. McCoy noted that by that time it was well-established that Rogue could "borrow" the powers of another mutant for a limited amount of time after contact with her skin. Rogue used her power to drain the Phoenix aka Dr. Gray which led to her death._

_It is not noted whether this death was natural or if Rogue killed Dr. Gray._

_Dr. McCoy added an addendum to the file which noted that Rogue sought him nine-months ago for a cure to a poison that had invaded her system. He was able to find an antidote to the poison but it left Rogue with a metastasizing cancer."_

Tony let out a whistle as his mind arranged the facts from the medical file along with what Rogue herself said during her talk with Logan. Moving into his lab he sat down in his chair, resting his jaw in one hand. Thinking out loud he said:

"So this Viper poisoned her but left her with an incurable disease. Because of her mutation and her personal history with him she knew that Wolverine could heal her if she could get close to her." He mused. "Some of the phrases in the medical file bother me." He frowned. "Poison skin. Stealing powers. If that's how they thought of her there no wonder she took off after Wolverine left."

"Indeed, sir." Safely ensconced in the lab JARVIS projected his voice over the speakers instead of the earpiece. "There may be more in the other two files. So far one has been decrypted. It is a private file written in a journal format by the current Headmistress, Ororo Monroe, Codename: Storm. In the beginning it references and describes the events leading up to Alcatraz with only occasional mentions of Rogue but afterwards focuses solely on the then-eighteen year old"

"Read it for me on speaker."

_"The word of this Cure has spread like wildfire through the school. The Professor is concerned over the effect of Cure on the public as a whole with Magneto's constant attacks on mankind. I'm worried about the children seeing this as one kind of saving grace. There's nothing wrong with us. There's nothing to Cure about us. We are what we are. But not all of us will see it that way. I worry about Rogue in particular. She of all mutants would welcome having that which makes her so special taken away from her. She's come too close too many times to doing irreparable harm to another for her to want to keep her mutation if she has the option of getting rid of it._

_We're all guilty of underestimating Rogue, myself included. The only one of us that has never taken her power for granted besides herself is Logan. The two of them are connected in some way. After Jean died for us all in Canada they became even stronger in their friendship until he left again. I fear without him here to council her, Rogue will take the "Cure" and lose herself in the bargain. She could very well be the most powerful mutant on the planet even if the Professor and the others refuse to see it inside of the quiet young girl._

Next entry:

_The Professor has picked up a burst of mental energy coming from Alkali Lake. Despite the advice of others and the need for us to be together at this time while facing extinction, Scott has left for Canada to search Alkali Lake for Jean._

Next entry:

_Logan has returned once again from his travels. Rogue was ecstatic as ever however has broken off her relationship with Bobby due to Logan discovering Bobby in a compromising position with Rogue's roommate Kitty. I'm afraid this will push Rogue even closer to taking the "Cure". With St. John's defection to the Brotherhood while with us in Canada at Alkali Lake, this has left Rogue with no friends of her own age. I fear her reaction when Logan leaves again._

Next entry:

_We picked up another, larger, burst of mental energy from Alkali Lake however we have been unable to contact Scott. I will be piloting the Blackbird with Logan and Hank accompanying me to investigate matters there._

Next entry:

_Dear Goddess Jean is alive. We found her in the remnants of Alkali Lake. The Professor is concerned about her mental state following the severe overuse of her abilities from keeping herself locked in a protective barrier of her powers deep within the lake for so long. He fears that the blocks he placed to keep her power in check have degraded and the effect on her mental state this might have. I believe Logan said it best. 'When you cage a beast, the beast gets angry.' I'm just happy to have my best-friend back._

Next entry:

_Please Goddess give me strength and guidance. Jean has murdered the Professor and we know believe killed Scott as well. She no longer acknowledges herself as Jean Gray but rather as a being called 'The Phoenix'. Her power is…awesome and terrifying. She has joined Magneto and his Brotherhood for some purpose we have yet to discover. How am I supposed to lead the X-Men or be a guiding light for these children in the face of so many threats when my faith in everything good has been so tarnished?_

Next entry:

_I know now I was right to question whether I could do this, take up the Professor's cause and lead us forward. In the middle of everything going on Rogue just slipped through the cracks. She's gone, undoubtedly to take the 'Cure'. Now we have to pray that Logan can bring himself to face the demon that wears the face of the woman he loves because the only other mutant that could stop her has abandoned us to our fate after our willful neglect._

Next entry:

Tony stops JARVIS with a question.

"The Wolverine was in love with this Jean Gray? Our Wolverine?"

"So it would seem, sir."

Shaking his head in amazement at this hidden side of Wolvie while processing the new information on Rogue, Tony gave JARVIS the command to continue. No wonder everything about her screams both bitterness and power. From what JARVIS has found she's been feared and underestimated ever since coming into her power by everyone except herself and Wolvie. And Wolvie kept leaving her behind seemingly without a thought. Talk about trust issues, she just might be more fucked up than Tony himself. Might be more fucked up. Might.

_"Forgive me, Goddess, for wishing this upon her. It appears that rather than seeking out the 'Cure' Rogue instead sought out an old friend. She sought out St. John aka Pyro and with his help joined the Brotherhood on Alcatraz Island. While everyone else was distracted, including myself, except for Logan who was facing off against Jean, Rogue and Pyro crept up behind her, allowing Rogue to grab hold of the Phoenix and siphon off her power. And that's when everything went wrong. The battle came to a standstill at the sight. Even now I have a hard time describing it._

_It was as if the Phoenix ripped every power Rogue has ever absorbed out of her body and they were wrapped in a floating cocoon of powers, fire and ice, steel and pure energy, everything I could imagine. I've long thought Rogue was more powerful than the others wanted to believe but even I couldn't imagine this. Logan said afterwards that the Phoenix was trying to take Rogue over, hull her out like a canoe and replace her with herself. Only this time she would truly be unstoppable._

_Jean always did underestimate Rogue._

_In the end they collapsed in a burst of pure power. Jean died because she held onto Rogue until there was nothing of herself left in her own body. By the time she realized her folly there wasn't enough of her life force left to save her. So she forced Rogue to take it all, everything she was._

_Logan revived Rogue in a heartbreaking display reminiscent of Liberty Island._

_My Goddess, I will regret for the rest of my life that I wished this on Rogue._

Next entry:

_Logan left today without a word to anyone. Not even Rogue._

_It won't be long now until she leaves, whether to follow him or just to be somewhere else I don't pretend to know, but I am sure she will leave. She only speaks perhaps a dozen words a day and that's only when forced. Logan was the only one who might have had a chance to bring her back from the darkness Jean cast her into but he's too far lost in his own pain to have a care for Rogue's._

_I fear for her every day. I fear each morning that this will be the day where I hear she's gone. I fear each night that come morning I will find her dead in her bed either from a broken heart or by her own hand – if such a thing is even possible with her power._

_What shames me is I also fear her. I fear what will become of her if she survives this. I fear what not what she could do but what she will do._

_Trials like those she has faced and overcome have broken many a woman._

_If Rogue breaks and Logan is gone who will bring her back to herself?_

_If Rogue falls…who will save the rest of us from her?_

That is the last entry detailing anything pertinent to Rogue except for a notation of the day she left, six-months following the last entry as Rogue told the Wolverine."

"Jesus." Tony breathes scrubbing his hands through his hair. "No wonder she's pissed. And I thought I've been through hell and back. If that's what's in the third-most protected file…I don't know if I even want to know what's in the last file."

"That may be a wise decision, sir." JARVIS said. "As I have not been able to completely decrypt that file, I am unsure as to the contents and am unable to advise you."

"JARVIS under no circumstances will you release any of this information to anyone but me. No one. Not even Pepper. Am I understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"Excellent." Tony blew out a breath. The lack of any real personal information in the files definitely tells him that Rogue is a supremely private woman. Fuck, no one even seems to know her real name. There's no fucking way he would ever have a chance with her if she found out he got his hands on this information and then passed it off to someone else.

No, whatever Coulson can dig up will have to be enough for Fury. He'll be damned if he'll fuck her over. If Fury got his hands on what are clearly some big-ass mutant community secrets Rogue would find herself in a cell on a permanent basis just out of Fury's blind need to lock up anyone that could possibly be a major threat if he can't find some way to control the.

Tony and everyone else who's ever come up against the Rogue are all no doubt well aware that she can't be controlled. It's not in her nature and something the Xavier School found out for themselves the hard way.

*x*x*x*x*x*

Rogue rolled her head on her shoulders, cracking her neck after going through all the little pitfalls in the Stark Tower security Remy helped her pinpoint and exploit when they were planning their op. She kept a couple that she didn't have to use to herself, just in case she needs a quick evac later but felt she kept up her end of the deal. She told them how she got in just not how she intends to get out.

There was something weird going on with these people.

She couldn't figure out if they were some kind of vigilante group like the X-Men or a government operation or a mercenary outfit or what-the-fuck.

They don't make any kind of sense to her.

They've got billionaire playboys rubbing elbows with stuffed-shirt federal agent-types. A pissy bald guy in an eye patch running around barking out orders and a huge guy with a hammer sparring with a real well built boy-next-door. And then there was Logan and the good Dr. Banner with his knock-out potion that he used on Rogue.

Not that it would work again.

Now that Viper's poison and the subsequent cancer is out of her system Logan's healing factor has kicked in with a vengeance. All of her absorbed powers are permanent after the Phoenix decided to try and take them for a test spin but Logan's has never worked at its full capabilities for some reason.

Probably because she seems to get injured so damned much.

The electrifying sense of being alive and powerful again was giving her an amazing buzz and the enhanced senses combined with it to make her feel like that time Remy kissed her until they both passed out.

She's just…alive after spending most of her time since manifesting her power in an omnipresent fog of guilt for one fucked-up situation after another.

David was an honest mistake but it took meeting Logan to get over it.

Then Logan and all of his baggage added to her own.

Liberty Island and almost destroying the world.

All of the missions where she picked up mind after mind and power after power all in the name of "the greater good."

Alkali Lake and losing John as a friend for a time.

Her life has been one shit-storm after another and it did its damnedest to kill her.

Nearly succeeded a handful of times.

But she's still here.

Now she just needs to figure out what the fuck to do with the rest of it now that she's all fixed up again. God knows she's not going back to the Manor and that's what Logan is going to be pushing as soon as he gets a chance. Thank god she's either been running around the building with Steve – sweet but too by-the-book for her sanity – or with Stark…

Stark. Now there's a man that's neither sweet or by-the-book. Something bothers her about how he looks at her though. At first it was pure curiosity mixed with a good dose of lust. She couldn't really blame him for either after all it isn't every day some woman dressed head-to-toe in tight leather breaks into his space and takes out one of the toughest guys on the planet. Then when she met him officially after Logan put the deal on the table, it was like he was sizing her up to put her under his microscope or something. Like he had something planned for her.

But now after working with him on the technical parts of the security system his curiousity has diminished to nearly nothing while something a lot like…well like has taken its place.

Stark looks at her like he wants her but like he wants to sit down and have a conversation or play chess after getting naked and sweaty with her.

Weird.

She's used to the "I want to get you naked" looks. She's not blind to her own appeal. She's pretty, with wild hair, long legs, and a stacked body. She's used to looks from appreciative to downright leering.

But "I want to get to know you" looks. No. Never. Not even Daken or Remy ever gave her those. She's too closed off, too in-your-face dangerous for that.

That doesn't seem to be stopping Stark though.

If anything it's egging him on.

*x*x*x*x*x*


	5. Chapter 4

**Multiversed**

_Disclaimer: See Prologue._

**Four**

After spending a fun-filled evening with her tails, Rogue retired to her oh-so-comfy cell and prepared to wait them out. Eventually Captain America will get tired of sitting outside her door and once the automatic locks kick in she'll have some damn peace and quiet. Once she'd drained Logan she was knocked out and hustled immediately to this cell for questioning by various members of the Avengers and S.H.I. until Logan finally woke up and broke up the party, brokering her release in the process.

Logan's guilty conscience was working in her favor at least, even if it has made him more…clingy than normal.

Well, she kept up her end of the deal: she showed them how she got in. Now she just has to wait until they get just a little more lax in watching her and she'll get herself back out of Stark Tower and leave the Avengers all far behind her. She's had enough run-ins with superheroes and superhero-wannabes to last her a lifetime.

R ~ & ~ T

Tony was only moderately surprised when JARVIS alerted him to a visitor requesting access to his personal rooms. As the only other ally the gorgeous and stubbornly-mysterious Rogue had here, Logan was sure to seek him out eventually, even if it was only to warn him off making a play for her.

Which he still fully intends to do, deadly powers or not. Where there's a will there's a way and Tony isn't a genius engineer for nothing.

He'll figure out a way around Rogue's mutation…hopefully before he dies of a terminal case of blue-balls.

Hearing the whoosh of the elevator doors opening from his place lounging on one of the large couches in his living room, Tony called out towards the foyer.

"Hey, Fur Ball. What's up?"

Logan just growled as he moved over to the sideboard with its selection of glasses and decanters. Making his choice, he pours and promptly throws back three fingers of Scotch without a shudder before filling the glass nearly to the brim and joining Tony in the main living area, taking a seat on an armchair flanking the Iron-Man's seated position.

"Why do you wanna keep the kid here?" He asked the playboy bluntly.

Tony wrestled with his answer for a moment. After learning what he has from Rogue's school files, in addition to the scraps Coulson dug up and JARVIS promptly hacked, Tony's answer greatly differs from what it would've been a few hours ago. Before she was just a slightly-wounded but beautiful dove in need of a safe place to land. And as far as ass-kickers go she's clearly not half-bad.

But after what those files contained…

Yeah. His answer isn't nearly that cut-and-dried anymore.

"How much do you know about your friend?" Tony asked in turn, trying to buy himself some time.

"More than most, less than I oughta." Logan admitted after a moment. "The kid…she's tough. Self-reliant, ya know. She only ever told me a coupla things about herself and I know that's still a lot more than what most know. Damn sight more than whatever Philly-boy is going to put on Fury's desk in the morning." Logan said with a short chuckle as he took another drink of Stark's fine booze.

"I hacked some files." Tony said with a shrug. "Most of it matches what she told you: didn't stick around at Xavier's for long after you left, kept a pretty low profile, etc."

"What doesn't match up?" Logan asked, his voice a low growl. He hated the thought of the pretty-boy making problems for the kid.

"That run-in with Viper she was talking about?" Tony raised a brow, waiting for Logan's nod before he continued. "It was a hit. Your "kid" spent some time running around with both the Thieves and the Assassins Guilds out of New Orleans."

"Fuck." Logan scrubbed one hand along his jaw. "Fury'll never let her stay now. And she needs to stay." Logan pinned Stark with a fierce look. "Much as I hate the thought of someone like _you_ anywhere within a hundred miles of Rogue…she needs to stay here where at least she'll have me to watch her back." _Like I shoulda been doing all along._

"Don't worry." Tony chuckled taking a sip of his own drink. "S.H.I.E.L.D will never know. Phil's report is much more benign than that. He doesn't quite have the hacking power that JARVIS and I possess. But," he leaned forward pinning Wolverine with a hard look of his own. "I need some questions answered about her and her power before I step back up to the plate and go to bat for her."

Logan had a feeling it would come down to something like this. Stark had the ability and the motivation to hack Xavier's, hell he could probably hack the Pentagon, the CIA, and NASA let alone Mutant High. But there's things about the Rogue only Logan knows. And then there's the things she doesn't share with any-damn-body.

"You know it's impossible to hide shit from the Rogue…right?" Logan asked arching a sarcastic brow. "She can take the information straight from your head. So if you are plannin' on tryin' to get close to her…I would suggest comin' clean with whatever you know about her and sooner rather than later. Because if there's one thing she hates above all it's bein' lied to and manipulated."

"Fair enough." Tony said with a shrug. Not many people _did _care for their trust being abused in that fashion. "Does Rogue retain the powers she absorbs from other mutants?"

"Depends." Logan said. "For a time, definitely. For good?" He shook his head. "Hard to say. She came here for my healing factor but that might just be because whatever Viper did to her wiped out whatever portion of it she'd retained from our last encounter."

"You said she can pluck information from my mind…" Tony trailed off, thinking rapidly. "She absorbs more than powers and energy…doesn't she?"

"Yeah." Logan said with a sigh. "Far as I know she's never told anyone else…and there isn't a telepath born that can get inside Rogue's head. Too much goin' on and her shields are too damn strong. But she "copies" the people she touches. The longer or more intense the contact, the better the copy. She probably has a fully-functioning copy of me runnin' around in her head."

"Wow, no wonder she's sarcastic and has trust issues." Tony said whistling.

"Watch it, bub." Wolverine growled.

"That was mainly what I wanted to know." Tony said. "I'm thinking that if we can convince good ol' Nick to let us keep her that I'll have JARVIS design and therapy program for her to work through her multiple-personality and Logan-abandonement issues."

"Don't forget parental issues." Logan said absently, clinking the ice in his glass. "She was a runaway when I met up with her. Kicked out when she manifested. And she manifested in a shitty way."

Tony just arched a brow in a silent question that remained unanswered as Logan shook his head.

"No way, bub." He said firmly. "You're gonna have to find that one out yourself."

He shrugged, leaning back against his couch before rising to his feet to see Wolverine out. As they walked over to the elevator, Tony had a light bulb moment.

"Hey, Wolverine?" He asked as the gruff man pressed a button for his floor.

"What?"

"What's her real name?"

Logan just gave him a little smile and a one-fingered salute.

"O-k then…" Tony said turning and laughing. He'll just add that to the list of things to ask Rogue himself.

R ~ & ~ T

_Next Chapter: Rogue's escape attempt, mainly Rogue and Tony fluffiness._


	6. Chapter 5

**Multiversed**

_Disclaimer: Not mine, not mine, still not mine._

**Five**

When Rogue and Gambit went over the schematics for Stark Towers they kept running into the same problem since Rogue's purpose in being there included getting caught: how to get back out. They both knew that once they had a person of interest in their holding cells following a successful break-in that security would be seriously ramped up. Which left her with two options: being patient and waiting them out, which is completely unacceptable to her. Or the second: doing the last thing anyone with a brain cell would try: the roof.

The roof at Stark Towers is a guaranteed way to get caught breaking in before you ever even breached the building for a simple reason: it leads directly to Tony Stark's private floors and is closely monitored by both S.H.I.E.L.D.'s security system _and_ Stark's AI JARVIS.

But.

S.H.I.E.L.D. is more worried about her walking right out the front door than they are her jumping off the roof. Which just leaves JARVIS and Stark to deal with.

This should be…interesting.

But if she manages it Remy owes her a hundred bucks for pulling it off.

R ~ & ~ T

"Sir?" The low chiming hum of JARVIS's voice pulled Tony away from the project that wouldn't let him sleep, hence him being awake and in his lab at three-a.m.

"Yeah?" He asked, distracted as he made the design in front of him spin. It was the third model of his first attempt at figuring out a way around Rogue's mutation. A personal shield only a couple molecules thick that spread out and completely encapsulates the body. Innovative…but not necessarily practical.

Although if he could manage it he could market it for germophobes and people with severe allergies.

Of course it wouldn't let him kiss her beyond a peck…

Back to the drawing board.

"Your Ms. Rogue has made her way out of her cell and seems to be making her way up to your floors."

That brought Tony's head up from the computerized drafting board in his lab.

"Analysis?" He demanded. What is she up to?

"The roof would be most probably for an escape attempt unless she truly is here for a theft of some sort…then it would be your labs, sir."

"Which scenario is most likely?" He asked leaning back and thinking over what he's learned about the tricky woman.

"Based on my observations of Ms. Rogue's behavior, probables has an escape attempt at 93.7% likelihood."

"Good enough for me." Tony chuckled to himself. He wouldn't trust them from her perspective either. Especially with her background. "Let's see how good Rogue is."

"Sir?"

"Keep all the security protocols in place. I'll be on the roof. Let's see how much she's learned since leaving Xavier's school."

R ~ & ~ T

Rogue crept from the ventilation duct out into the cool night air. Breathing deeply she smiled a genuine smile before stretching and cracking her neck. She really should've absorbed Kitty when she still had the chance, it would make these kinds of adventures much easier.

Pleased with herself and the world in general now that she's both healthy and out of a cell, she gave her hands a quick shake before moving briskly over to the edge of the building and staring down.

"It's a long drop unless the ability to fly is one of your mutations."

The smooth voice with that ever-present hint of sarcasm came from the shadows, startling Rogue into turning with hands down and open at her sides: one holding a fireball, the other a roiling coil of ice and snow.

"Nice." Tony said with an arched brow as he moved out of the shadows, still casually dressed. If he couldn't talk her into staying there was no point in keeping her here and Iron Man isn't needed for that. If anything his suit would probably be detrimental to his cause. "I thought you might keep the powers you copy for longer than your file extrapolates."

Raising the hand with the contained snow storm, watching him the whole time, she blew out a breath making the snow flutter and whirl around them before it vanished. The fireball she expanded into a miniature Chinese dragon that roared around them before she extinguished it.

"It's more than that." She said finally, staring at him out of those wounded brown eyes. "At this point I'm probably better with some of my copied powers than the original owners are."

"Oh?" He cocked his head, studying her in that analytical way that drives her nuts. "How so?"

"When I copy a mutants power," she began lifting and cupping her hands in front of her and turned one of the rings she wore on her bared hands into a malleable, floating ball of adamantium. "It starts like this. A small ball of something but because of the copy of the mutant's mind and genetics that I get, I instinctively _know_ how to control and use the power."

Raising the ball to his eye level she lowered her hands and made it shift:

First it was a ring again, then a detailed model of a brain, then a double helix.

"Plus where they've been doing things like trying to rule the world," she chuckled as she made the metal turn into a mini-Magneto. "Or learning to be superheroes." Next it shifted into Iceman, Colossus, Storm, even Wolverine. "I've been fighting and scraping along doing the minimum." There was one of the fighting cages, then a motorcycle. "I've had a lot of time on my hands the last five years to learn how to use all of these powers running through me."

Lastly she made the metal shift into a snowflake, then a candle flame, a lightning bolt, a playing card, and ending with a miniature statue of a snarling wolf before she shifted it back to a ring on her finger.

"That's some skill." Tony said impressed with her control.

"Yeah, some skill." She agreed her voice sad as she looked out over the New York lights. "Too bad I don't have that much insight into my own mutation."

"I'm afraid the cats out of the bag about your mutation." Tony said, brushing one hand down one of her stripes. "Coulson's report covers it."

Rogue just nodded studying him closely.

"Why am I still here, Stark?" She asked after a long moment.

"Here the roof or here with the Avengers still?"

"The second. Unless Director Fury has no intention of letting me walk out the front doors I can't figure out what I'm still doing here."

Tony laughed at her pissed-off scowl.

"You're still here because some of us – the Avengers – think that you would be a major asset to our team."

"Seriously?" She arched a brow. "An unknown mutant with a habit of bolting who broke into S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters is a major asset to the Avengers." Crossing over to the ledge she leans back and folds her arms over her chest as he moves to stand in front of her. "Please, enlighten me."

"For one," he said boxing her in with his arms as he leans forward. "You're not an unknown mutant." At her snort he explained. "Granted not _much_ is known about you but you're not a completely unknown quantity. You've got history with Wolverine and can handle him – which is a skill worth its weight in gold around here. He knows you and knows at least part of your past, something that he's already refused to share so don't get pissy."

She just rolled her eyes at that last part.

After waiting a moment gauging whether she believed him about that he continued.

"You've already proven that you have serious skills, breaking in here isn't an easy feat and breaking back out is even harder."

"Clearly," she snarked.

Tony just rolled right over that as if she never spoke.

"Agent Coulson put together a file on you: mostly benign stuff including your illustrious cage-fighting career but couldn't find anything from before you came to Xavier's and very little after. What little he did find all points to you being a loner that's never lost a fight."

Narrowing her eyes, she stared him down something about his tone bothering her.

"But you know more than that…don't you?"

"I'm a genius with an AI at my disposal…of course I do." Tony said truthfully. "And I have a feeling you're really not going to like the things I know about you."

"Then why tell me that you checked on me."

"I like you." He said simply, chuckling a little at her "yeah-right" look. "And I want to do morally reprehensible things your rather luscious body."

"Good luck with that." She said flippantly.

"Hey." He gave her a mock-injured look. "Genius, remember? If there's anyone who can figure out a way around your mutation it's me. But getting back on point," he flicked a finger down her cheek too quick to activate her power. "From what I found out and what Logan told me…I know that if I have any chance at getting close to you I had to come clean about my digging before you found it out for yourself."

Shooting him a look from under her lashes, Rogue rolled that around in her mind for a minute. With an internal sigh she could only come to one conclusion.

"Sorry for this." She said with a quirk of her lips.

Moving quicker than he could track without his Iron Man suit, she grabbed hold of his T-Shirt and jerked him forward, planting a firm kiss on his lips.

Tony just stood there, shocked, as he felt tingles spark at his lips and spread outward, leaving him lightheaded as fireworks from the actual kiss went off behind his reflexively-closed eyelids.

_Holy shit she packs a punch…in more than one way._

Letting him go she breaks the steamy kiss after one long moment as that last thought of his danced in her brain. A little wobbly on his feet, Tony planted one hand firmly on the stone ledge of his building as he waited for the little lights in front of his eyes to stop dancing.

Closing her eyes she let the day – his day – pass through her mind like a movie focusing on his thoughts of her and the information he and his hacking-buddy AI dug up on her.

R ~ & ~ T

By the time Tony regained his bearings Rogue was deep within what looked like a trance.

_Probably taking my mind for a spin_. He thought frivolously. Eyes popping open at some of the consequences of that, he tapped the earpiece with one finger keeping an eye on the seemingly out-of-it face of Rogue.

"JARVIS, change all my passwords as of now." He ordered, thinking of the sensitive and classified information in his computers…and his bank account balance. Not that he seriously thought she would abuse the information she got from her powers that way – she wouldn't be wearing a five-year-old leather jumpsuit otherwise – but he has too many responsibilities to take the chance.

"Yes, sir."

As his AI answered, Tony watched in fascination as a single tear tracked down one of Rogue's silky cheeks.

"Rogue?" He asked tentatively. _Shit! Shit! What the fuck did she find in my memories?_

"Marie." She said huskily, opening her damp, velvet-chocolate eyes. "Mah name is Marie."


	7. Chapter 6

**Multiversed**

_Disclaimer: Not mine._

_A/N: Sorry about the wait between chapters I'm just not 100% on how much further I'm going to draw this story out. I'm thinking this is going to be one of my shorter fics at around 10-15 chapters._

**Six**

Extending one hand in a timeless gesture, Rogue waited for Tony to take it as he processed that the stubbornly-nameless Rogue just told him her name.

No one knows her name.

No one but Logan and now, _him_. Tony Stark.

She trusted him with something she's never trusted another soul with – to his knowledge – and all after taking a brief spin through his thoughts and memories. Either his science-y soul touched her in some previously undiscovered way…or she got more from him than he ever intended to let her see.

Taking her gloved hand in his bare one, Tony clasped it firmly giving her a rakish grin as he tugged her towards the stairwell that led down to his private floors.

"I think we're going to need somewhere more comfortable to continue this conversation." Was all he said, watching as she carefully reined in the tears swimming in her eyes after her little digging expedition.

"That's the best idea I've heard all day." She said with a watery laugh, tucking a stand of her now falling-down hair behind her ear. "And it's been a long one."

"Tomorrow's not looking any better." He admitted. "You're going to have a go-around with the Director in not too-many hours from now."

Rogue just made a little non-committal sound in her throat as he led her into a luxuriously-appointed bedroom. Raising a brow she shot him a look as he laughed.

"It's not mine, Scout's honor." He said holding up his hand not currently occupied with holding onto her.

"You were never a Scout." She laughed at his mock-saddened look as they each took a seat on the couch across the room from the tempting bed that she's refusing to look at as long as Tony and all his many ideas about things he would like to do to and with her – thanks memory download, for those rather _vivid_ mental images – in the same room as herself and…well…_any_ flat surface.

She sobered, thinking about what she found in his memories. What made her trust him with a huge thing to her – her real name or part of it anyway.

"You were alone." She said, looking deep into his solemn gaze. "So very alone."

"Poor little rich boy?" He jested, uncomfortable with the _knowing_ in her eyes. It's wonderful – and terrible – that he'll never be able to hide anything from her. That he'll never have to worry about her getting upset because she didn't understand him. Because right now she probably understands him better than anyone else on the damn planet.

"No." She shook her head, reaching up and smoothing one gloved hand down his scruffy day-old beard growth. "Just a sad little boy, left all alone when his mom died."

Tony cleared his throat. "You, ah." He tried again. "You saw all that?" _That_ is what brought tears to her eyes.

"I didn't just see it." She said looking off into the distance behind him, her eyes vague. "I felt it. It's a cocktail of emotions I'm very familiar with. I've lived with them along time." She gave him a crooked smile. "Ah was adopted, ya see. An' then when mah mutation…" she trailed off again, shaking her head to clear it. "Mah parents who were raisin' me kicked me out an' told me the truth. That mah mother left me at a hospital with only a blanket wrapped around me. Ah know the pain, and rage, and sadness that comes from abandonment _very_ well. It jus' keeps happenin' to me, ya see. Over and over and over again."

"Logan?" He asked, thinking about what she had to say to the shaggy mutant in that holding cell. "He walked out on you too. At least I only had to deal with it once."

Curling her legs up under her she gave a little laugh.

"From mah own experience Ah would have to say that it doesn't get any easier the more it happens. You hurt, you cry, you get mad, and then…" she shrugged, letting him fill in the rest of it.

"You just get numb." He supplied pressing a kiss to the back of the hand he still held. "How're you doing with that?"

She giggled, the caress tickling.

"I've been better." She admitted. "Comin' here, seein' him again." She sighed, closing her eyes. "I could've done without doin' that for the rest of my life. But when it came down to it, livin' and seein' him again or dyin' and not… Well we all know what I chose."

Tony stroked one thumb across the back of her knuckles.

"You planning on staying?" He arched a brow. "Fury's going to ask you in the morning, well later in the morning. It's not the best gig in the world but the company," he gave her a cheesy grin. "Really can't be beat."

She gave another little giggle before rolling her head on her neck and heaving a sigh.

"I suppose." Rogue said, rolling her eyes as he pretended to do a little victory dance without letting go of her. "That doesn't mean I'm gonna hop on into bed with you mister." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Your background wasn't all I picked up from you."

He felt himself blushing despite himself. He'd already figured out for himself that Ms. Rogue is a virgin…a scary enough prospect for a playboy. Being someone's first is a big deal, or should be. Throw her knowing all his dirty – very dirty – thoughts about her luscious self and scary became rather intimidating.

"I figured it was worth losing my shot with you for you to trust me." He said at last.

"Ah know." She said with a soft smile. "Ah know."

"Well," Tony rubbed one hand on the back of his neck. "We both should probably get some sleep and I'm not about to make you go back down to the cells. I'll just leave a message for Steve and Mr. Growly-Pants about where you are so they don't panic when your cell is empty. This room is yours, if you want it."

Rogue shooed him from the room, staying propped on the doorframe for a moment.

"I'll be fine." She promised. "Just going to shower and get some sleep, like you said."

Tony gave her a wicked grin. "Sure you don't need any help in the shower?"

"I'm very sure I don't need an unconscious Iron-Man in mah shower, yes." She said drily, rolling her eyes. Giving him one last fleeting look, she turned to leave as he stood with his hands in his pockets and watched. Before she could talk herself out of it, Rogue whirled around and darting over to him gave him a quick kiss before dashing back into her new room and slamming the door behind her.

"Jarvis," Tony said, still dazed over the completely unexpected caress. "I think I'm in love."

"Very good, sir." Came the dry answer from his AI and constant companion. "Should I have your tux pressed or do you plan on eloping?"

Snorting at the wise-assery coming from his computer, Tony walked down the hall to the room adjoining Rogue's. His master bedroom.

"I said I think I'm in love. Not that I've suffered a massive brain trauma." He shot back at JARVIS. "I need at least a week before I propose. She's a runner. Can't spring these things on her too fast."

"Very good sir."

R ~ & ~ T

_Next up: Rogue and Fury, plus Rogue vs. Logan in more than one way. Also more Rogue & Tony fluffiness. It's going to be a long one next chapter…._


End file.
